Those Who Fight
by Midori-Sensei
Summary: Shizuru was kidnapped a few months back, therefore her parents decided that she should learn self-defense. So she begins taking Tae Kwon Do at the Suzushiro Dojo. All is well until she meets the sensei's daughter who doesnt like how well she's doing.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Notes:

Based off of my actual Tae Kwon Do regiment. XD (Forgive me sensei, I don't know how to spell the Korean words you use. ; A;)

Now readers, why don't you sit back, put on your HaruZuke caps, and drink in the splendor.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-HiME. If I did, this might be a spin-off.

* * *

"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye to them likewise." Luke 6:31

"In this world, there are those who fight, and there are those who love. There are almost never those who do both." – Midori-Sensei (for the sake of this fic)

* * *

She, like most her age, never thought that such a terrible thing would ever happen to her. Why would such a thought ever cross her mind? Only the paranoid would expect it.

That afternoon, at two fifty-six to be precise, she was sitting in the back of her father's limo; taking delicate tastes from a steaming cup of green tea and watching the peaceful scenery go by. It was fall; leaves were shifting from greens to orange hues. Even though the foliage had begun to die out, the eerie look made it more appealing and pleasing to the eyes. Thoughts on nothing in particular, Shizuru merely waited for her arrival, letting out a contented sigh with minor impatience.

Easing up to the white line on the road that signaled for one to stop before the streetlights when red, the driver, by the name of Takahashi, looked at up at the mirror so that he would check on the young heiress. And that's where the mistake had been made.

If maybe he had decided to check on her later on in their ride, or if perhaps Shizuru would have engaged in conversation with the poor man, it wouldn't have happened. Maybe if that black mustang far before them had come to the conclusion that paying attention to the road, instead of comforting his upset girlfriend that was unaware of his cheating on her from over the phone, he wouldn't have had to speed up at the sight of the yellow light, leaving the limo behind him to stop where it had.

The chain could go on forever, person after person could be blamed, but who truly deserved it was the one who had performed the task, along with the person who had hired him to do so.

With smooth precision, a man had approached the door on the left, the one closest to the sidewalk, and picked the lock with little to no effort. Once forced open, he crawled over to the driver, who was in absolute panic. With the push of a button, his seatbelt recoiled, and the next action only took a swift strike to the man's neck with the side of his hand before opening the door and tossing his body out into the street. Closing the door with a click, he sat comfortably in the seat, proud of his work that only lasted a dozen adrenaline filled seconds.

The light flickered to green and he gently pressed his worn faded white sneaker against the gas pedal. Wondering why there was no commotion from behind him, he looked up at the mirror, only to see no one in the passenger seat. Peeling his eyes from the road, he reeled his head back to search for her. He was not going to have gone through all of the effort to come back empty handed.

In a fetal position at a point where the mirror could not see, the far corner of the seat on the left, sat the frightened teen. Her right hand was clamped over her mouth, just in case she were to make any sounds. Body shivering lightly, she tried to plan a way of escape.

"No use hiding, I know you're in this car." His voice was cold and held not the slightest hint of sympathy. Gloved hands tightening on the wheel, he took a sharp right turn and in to an alleyway whose side was that of a warehouse.

"Welcome home, princess." Parking first, he stepped out of the car and walked calmly over to where he last saw her sitting. Opening the door, he peered in and a fist came towards him. Sadly, it was a pathetic move, and only caused him to snigger under his breath at the futile attempt. Snatching her wrist, he yanked her out of the vehicle and slung her writhing body over his shoulder.

She tried to yell for help for a few times, but judging by the lack of attention, she concluded that they were in a desolate location.

One arm holding her against his form, he unlocked the back door of the large building and carried her in and up a flight of stairs. A few steps in, her wriggling began to irk him. "Listen. Keep moving around, and I just may drop you down these stairs. Understood?"

With a weak nod, they moved on.

Once they had reached the final floor, they were met with some well-built guards standing before a steel coated door. Dressed in black suits, with cell phones in hand, they looked him over once, and after noticing the package he had with him, they nodded and stepped aside before opening the entrance for them.

Inside was a person that Shizuru would never in all of her days ever forget.

Seated on a leather seat in the center of the room was a woman who looked only a few years older than herself. Trailing upwards, she wore heeled boots underneath a black pinstripe tuxedo combo. One slender leg was crossed over the other in a relaxed manner as a puff of smoke trailed about her form. Gazing upwards, she noted the white gloved hand on her knee before looking farther. Crimson locks hung gracefully from her shoulders, a few lost strands dangling on her neck. Between her lips was a long smoking pipe, which another gloved hand held loosely in place. A calculating grassy eye gave her the same once over that she was receiving, the other hidden behind a black patch. Nestled on her head was a matching hat that was tilted down ever so slightly.

"I see you didn't fuck things up like usual, Kyo."

Her voice, though quite feminine, was sarcastic and held a strong aftertaste of insult. Either this "Kyo" tended to always "fuck things up" or she general disliked people. The smile, smirk to be more accurate, on her face seemed to lean towards the latter.

"Sit her down."

With a wave of her hand, the man did as he was told and dropped her on the floor. Shizuru winced, even though she told herself that a woman such as her would take delight in it and that she shouldn't give her the pleasure, before sitting as though she were in a tea ceremony. Her expression however, was emotionless, despite being scared out of her wits.

"Fighting the only way you know how, huh? Well that won't do shit against me, Fujino." She paused to breathe out a long trail of smoke before speaking once more. "See little wannabe rebels such as yourself either get disposed of or ignored with me." She flashed her a wide smile before directing her gaze elsewhere.

As her mysterious captor spoke amongst her insubordinates, Shizuru thought about her situation.

'_It should not be long before they realize I am missing… This woman must be after ransom money. If that is all, this should not take too long. I hope…'_

* * *

"Shizuru my dear, please do not act as though you don't see the logic in this." Mr. Fujino, a fairly tall man dressed in a comfortable grey tuxedo spoke sternly yet with care as he placed his hands on his daughter's shoulders, who couldn't repress a flinch at the action.

"We just want you to be safe." Her mother spoke with raw emotion as her crimson eyes began to fill with tears.

At seeing both of her parents in such a broken state of being, Shizuru had decided that no matter how much she may not enjoy it, she would take a Tae Kwon Do class. Apparently an old friend of the family ran the dojo and offered the lessons free of charge. There was no turning down such an offer.

The ride went by quite smoothly, which was a first, for Shizuru tended to go through small panic attacks from time to time whenever she entered a vehicle.

Upon entering the small, yet very wide building, they were greeted by a giant of a man with broad shoulders, short messy blonde hair and mustache, sporting a black and dark green outfit that is universally known as a karate uniform.

He had his hand before the brunette before she could blink, and she weakly took it and gave it a small shake.

"It's a pleasure to have you here, Fujino-san. I hope you enjoy yourself."

After their small meeting, she began to scan about the room, locking eyes with other students. One appeared to be a middle schooler, and was jumping about with unmatched enthusiasm. She had a green belt around her waist. A man who looked a lot like her was fumbling with his belt, which was a spotless white, signaling that he was new as well. At the punching bags was a cyan haired woman who stood analyzing the bag for a few moments before delivering it a punch so hard that the object swung back fiercely before continuing said cycle for a minute or so. She wore a red belt that matched her eyes. The final person on the training mat was a striking blunette who remarkably had her leg up high enough to the point where her toes aimed at the ceiling with precision. Secured on her person was a purple belt.

Before she could speak up, her sensei spoke once more. "White is the beginner color. Followed by yellow, green, blue, purple, red, black and higher degrees of black. If you master your techniques, you get stripes. Once you have all the stripes, you're eligible to fight for your next belt." He then handed her a white jacket and pants along with a white belt. "Go change in the back, remove your shoes and socks, and meet me at the mats."

Truly, this man spoke far too fast for her to comprehend, and the straight forward and forceful manner in which he did it left no room for discussion. Accepting her fate, she proudly walked over to the woman's room where she would change her clothes.

The task of sliding her skirt down to her ankles led her to thinking about her predicament.

'_If I am to participate in this, I must perform my utmost best.'_

Keeping her shirt on, she put on the white jacket before pulling the matching pants up her form. Once dressed in the essentials, she put on her belt, which reminded her of a kimono's sash. First, she wrapped it around her twice. Then with one end in each hand, she crossed them as though lacing her shoes but instead of moving one underneath the ends, she put it in between her waist and the belt. With a sharp tug, she tightened it before continuing to tie it like a shoe. When satisfied, she left the room and walked gracefully down the hallway leading to the mats.

After noticing her oncoming form, her sensei had ordered her to pick up the pace, which she did immediately.

'_They must run by military protocol here.'_

As she took her place in line, she noticed that there was a new person there. Her long blonde hair matched the teacher's and was up in a tight ponytail with a few locks hanging about lazily in certain places. She had a stern look on her face, as though she were already in deep concentration.

"Today we're going to go over the basics since we have a new student." His deep voice commanded attention, and he had it. Clapping once, everyone stood at a ten-hut. Looking at everyone's positions, Shizuru swiftly mimicked them.

"Cheriote kunge **(AN: pronounced: Cherry-oat Koon Gay)**." The blonde spoke, and at that, the group bowed to the Japanese and Korean flag at the other side of the room.

"Alright. First, we're going to do five minutes of intense warm ups. Your heart rate will pick up drastically, but don't worry about it." Sending her a small smile, the nameless teacher then gave the students a strict look before commanding them to get into groups. "Mikoto with Reito, do _not _hurt him, Miyu with Natsuki, and Haruka with Shi-"

"Absolutely not!"

Shizuru blinked in surprise, for she did not think that the girl could speak in such a loud voice and everyone act as normal.

"Haruka." By the tone in his voice, he let her know that his decision was final.

'_Father and daughter, I see.'_

Grumbling under her breath about working with newbies, the red belt approached her.

Arms crossed, she waited for the cue to work, not giving the brunette a passing glance.

"Aaaand, jumping jacks!"

'_1…2…3…4…5…6…' _

Haruka counted down each set as she moved, Shizuru easily keeping up with her and silently counting along as well. Not used to working out, her breath became slightly labored, but nothing to dwell on.

"Mountain climbers!"

Instead of helping as she was supposed to, her senior merely went on with the warm-up, moving in a push-up position, except instead of pushing her body down, she brought one knee up to her chin after another, giving the appearance that she was indeed climbing a mountain with long strides.

Looking over her stance once, Shizuru followed her lead, even performing more per second, as Haruka had noticed.

'_We'll see how you do on the next one.'_

"Bear crawl!"

Having P.E in school before, the Fujino heiress was well acquainted with the move, so at his words, she squatted down and moved like an animal down to the wall and back, Haruka hot on her trail, her teeth gnashed together in anger. There was no way in hell that a newbie would out stage her in her own dojo. It would be over Haruka's dead body. Pushing herself further, the blonde arrived at the end point before Shizuru, but only by a split second.

'_I see someone has a competitive flare.'_

Standing up gracefully, the white belt looked her partner over. What was she to be worried about? According to the sensei, she was on the 6th belt, while Shizuru was on the first. That was over a year or more of expertise.

After repeating the exercises to the point where it hurt to even breathe, they were split into different groups. This time, Shizuru was paired with Reito, Mikoto with Natsuki, and Miyu with Haruka.

"Hello, my name is Reito Kanzaki." The dark haired teen introduced with a bow and a dazzling smile as he stood before her.

"My my, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kanzaki-san. I am Shizuru Fujino." At that, his expression shifted to one of surprise.

"Fujino as in…Fujino Corps?"

Even though her smile widened, she internally frowned at the status. "That is correct."

"The pleasure is all mine then." Grasping her hand, he gave it a firm shake, and then placed a tender kiss on it. She blinked down at him, mildly astonished by the bold move. She was about to speak before an "ahem" sounded.

Both looking up, they were met with a pair of stern amethysts.

"You can do that later. Now we must focus and fight."

"Kanin-na." She spoke with a bow to the teacher before facing Reito with a look that practically shouted "be ready".

"Now Fujino-san, do you know what the meaning of sparing is?" He asked with a kind tone well mixed with one of authority as he met her eyes.

At the question, she looked up at the ceiling for a brief moment as she calculated the correct answer. "Marked by or practicing careful restraint."

"Exactly!" He grinned at her, well impressed by her answer. "In short, don't hurt each other. It's just a play fight."

Once the two nodded, he moved on.

"Stand at an arms length from each other."

"Yes sir." Reito spoke as he took a large step back.

At hearing nothing from Shizuru, the man turned his striking gaze to her.

"Ara…Yes sir."

Nodding with a smile, he walked in a circle around them as he seemed to plan how he should have them spar.

"Before anything, you must bow to your partner. Show them the respect and say- HEY!" Shizuru jumped in surprise as the man shouted, effectively taking her off guard. "Let's not hurt each other." With an innocent smile, he continued.

"Next I will show you a 'low block'. Put your arms in an X motion across your chest." He followed his own words as an example before she did. "Good. Now take four steps back with your right foot. Keep your left where it is."

Doing so with ease, she looked up at him, ready for the next part.

"Take your right hand and move it down to your waist, keep it in a fist." Sliding her arm away from her left, she did as she was told. "Good. Now stretch your arm out to your knee. That there is the 'low block'! Way to go!" With a firm smack against her shoulder he approached Reito.

Rolling said shoulder to have the soreness wear off, she looked to Reito, who had moved into a position that looked like he was punching.

"This is called a 'lunge punch'. It's the same as the 'low block' except your fist is out straight instead. I'll teach you how to use it against an opponent."

"Yes sir." She nodded, causing him to smile happily. He was an easy person to please.

"When he punches, I want you to take a step past his left foot and bat his arm away with your own."

Taking a lithe step near his foot, she glanced at his outstretched fist before using the side of her lower arm to smack his out of the way. He in turn winced before laying his arm down at his side.

"Good! You're doing great. Now punch him in the stomach."

They both looked at him as though he had gone mad.

"Don't actually do it! Just come close."

Reito sighed in relief as Shizuru giggled.

Moving her arm back, she delivered a swift make believe punch to his stomach.

"Now slam the palm of your hand into his nose. Not really, but you get what I'm saying."

She quickly did as she was told as though she were far more advanced than a white belt.

"Press your fingers together and karate chop his groin."

Blinking in surprise, she nodded before doing just that.

"Finally knee him in the stomach and toss him to the ground. It's a lot easier than it seems. Firstly, bring your knee up to his stomach. Then move the same leg behind his right foot and slam your heel into his own. He'll fall quite nicely."

"Fujino-san is a very quick learner."

A mechanical sounding voice belonging to a cyan haired teen spoke as she moved to punch Haruka under her chin. Growling lowly under her breath, the red belt grabbed her wrist with ease before taking a large stride forward and pulling her arm over her shoulder, effectively tossing her equal against the mat.

"And you should learn to shut up when fining."

"Oof!" A male voice cried after a slam. Angry purple eyes turned to see Reito laying belly up on the mat with a pained expression, along with the brunette standing above him and apologizing.

"I hate white belts…"

* * *

Authors Notes:

Ah, I'm finally done.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, do look forward to more.

Viva la revolution!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes:

-grins and winks-

Quite nice to hear from you lovely HaruZuke fans.

Glad to know you enjoyed the previous chapter, hope you like this one as well.

Oh, and do forgive me, I'm not very good at describing fighting scenes, but I'm working on it.

* * *

The owner of "Fists of Power", the Suzushiro dojo, is a proud full-blood German man. He stands at above six feet (six foot seven, to be precise), with broad shoulders, and a tough, yet kind attitude. His birth name being Adalard von Swithin, or one who is very high in bravery.

In his early twenties, Adalard convinced himself that he was destined to fight, plain and simple. Wanting to participate in a fighting style quite unlike that which his homeland had to offer, he immersed himself in Asian Studies. Soon after, he moved to Japan and was taught under a master in Tae Kwon Do for five years. While there, he fell madly in love with his Sensei's third daughter, Hiromi Morihara. They married within a year of meeting. Introverted and reserved, Hiromi was at first quite taken back by her future husband's behavior. He was, and still is, a reckless man, one to easily get high on adrenaline. Yet he had a certain charm, one she was vulnerable to. On the night of their marriage, they had agreed to have a child together, and the brunette was impregnated that very evening.

Shortly afterwards, Adalard found it necessary to change his name, for he hadn't wanted his wife, nor his oncoming child to bare such bizarre titles. His master suggested Ryuken Suzushiro. The kanji written were the symbols for "heroic strength" and "noble and just". It was a fine combination.

On August 3rd 1992, at 12:38 AM, (A.N: Judging if she hasn't aged since the '05 release. Well now that I think about this, this is AU… So ignore this, yeah? –Midori ramble-) Haruka came barrel rolling out just in time for lunch. Their daughter had short blonde hair, pasted down by placenta, and a scowl on her face, eyes shut tight in what appeared to be anger. To their worry, her facial expression stayed that way for an hour straight, her lip only quivering every few minutes or so. After some careful rocking and singing from her mother and some pleas to just open her eyes from her father, a single amethyst eye gazed up at the ceiling. Feeling that it was safe, the other followed.

The young couple were astonished by the eye color, for neither of them possessed it. The infant stared them down for a short moment before gracing them with a victorious smile as if to say "I made it, now award me for it."

At age four, she enlisted in Tae Kwon Do, taught by her own father, who had just opened "Fists of Power". Even though poor Hiromi pleaded that they not have her participate in such a thing, Haruka herself insisted that she do so. "I wanna be strong!" She shouted as loud as her tiny voice could go.

Unfortunately, by age six, they had discovered that their only child had supposedly suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Her father saw it as a blessing; she could focus all of that pent up energy into her fists. Her mother, on the other hand, became anxiety-ridden.

"She just… She won't sit still." Hiromi mumbled into the telephone, her voice cracking from the stress as a bead of sweat, or a tear, tumbled down her cheek. "She'll shout out answers to things before I'm done telling her something and she gets in trouble at school for not waiting for her turn… I don't know what to do…"

Dark, almost black locks clung to her forehead from the sweat as hazel eyes darted about the room, searching for her child. She could have sworn she was nearby a moment ago. The woman was exhausted from chasing her around the living room, the blonde tumbling over sofas, laughing. She was so much like her father. Maybe that was the problem. One was hard enough as it was. Ryuken was tough on you until you got something right, and then he would switch to a loving mood.

"I know, Mrs. Suzushiro, I know. And as you know, there is always the option of medication. Such as Methylphenidate, Ritalin, or Adderall." The doctor spoke, his voice monotone and purely business. From the other line, he sat in his three legged chair, phone between his ear and shoulder as he spoke and typed onto his computer with his left hand while his right signed his name on a dotted line. The forty-six year old man was finding retirement to be impossible once more this year.

Hiromi gulped back some collected saliva at this information as he spoke. Yes, she was well aware of it. But what would become of Haruka? It would sap her of her personality. Even though she was having a hard time dealing with her, she loved her very much, and only wanted what was best for her. "Could there possibly be anything else?" She talked before a flash of blonde interrupted.

"Mom! Mom, look!" The little girl was hopping back and forth on each foot as she looked up at her mother.

"Give me one minute, Haruka. I'm on the phone."

At this, the girl stuck out her tongue, and that was when she noticed. There was blood on her mouth. The phone slipped from between her fingers as she crouched down quickly, gently taking her daughter by her shoulders. "Haru-chin! What happened?"

She grinned widely, revealing a red stained gap where her left canine tooth used to be. In between her index finger and thumb lay the tooth. She said nothing, simply watching her mother for a positive reaction.

The woman's face took on many emotions, such as fear and grief, before settling on a worried smile. "Let's wash you up, shall we?"

Two weeks later, she left. She slid out of Ryuken's tight embrace on December 12th, before the sun could even adjust itself in the sky. Leaving behind all of her belongings she crept into Haruka's room before taking off. The blonde lay eagle spread with her stomach showing and a dab of drool on her lips. Choking back a sob, Hiromi tucked a stray wavy lock behind her ear and kissed her on the forehead.

The rest of the next few days, for Haruka, were spent going in and out of her parent's room and her mother's study. Going through clothes, sniffing the perfume, flipping through books too difficult to read. Her father became unusually cold, directing most of his anger on her. Being the person that she was, she never stood for it, and always yelled right back.

It took the two until she was fourteen to repair their relationship. After six years away from Tae Kwon Do, she one day knocked on his door, asking if he would take her on as a student. Their emotions were taken out on the punching bags. Now on every twelfth of December, the two spend their day having as much fun as possible, trying their best to forget. At night they grieve alone.

In middle school, Haruka had fought to become President, enforcing strict rules. Order became her obsession, next to fighting, and she worked hard to make sure that everyone knew so. Unfortunately, she was not popular by many. Her loud, booming voice swallowed up all other sounds, commanding attention, and she stumbled upon her words often. Though anyone who dare poke fun at her sought her wrath. It was never clean, either. She would fight publically, as a show of strength and as a warning.

She had gone unopposed for years, and she knew that her upcoming senior year would be the same.

But, she was unaware that after summer, she would have a competitor. And that person was now standing next to Natsuki on the other end of the dojo.

"I'll be your partner for kicking." A husky voice spoke as crimson eyes watched the owner's lips. They quirked into a smile as she continued speaking. "Between you and me, I'm the best kicker in here. Hence why we're partnered."

Shizuru felt her heart go a flutter at this. Natsuki Kuga, as she had previously introduced herself, was gorgeous. No, that may be an understatement. Drop dead gorgeous is more precise. Up close gave an even better look at shining ebony locks, mainly due to sweat, and sparkling emerald eyes. Her jacket was thrown aside and she wore a tight tank top, easily showing off the exact shape of her breasts and how flat her stomach was.

"Before we begin…"

Cherries darted back up to grassy greens; not being the type to get caught openly checking someone out.

"As my personal protocol states, I must inform you that I'm asexual. If that's too big of a word for you, that means that I hold no attraction towards anyone, so if you're gay, no, I'm not being homophobic." She spoke with a hand on her hip and the other up towards her hair to comb through it. Her eyes were closed during it all.

Shizuru held back a small frown at this. Oh why did the good die young? Regardless, she told herself to respect this person's decision and not hit on her. Teasing, however, is allowed.

"Ara, how unfortunate. And here I thought I could get lucky."

Her reward was the deep coloring of Natsuki's pale cheeks before she turned away.

"Yeah, right. Anyway. We're going to start off simple. I'll get the targets."

Before any more could be said, she walked past her to the bin in the back. Of course, Shizuru watched this action with little discretion. But her eyes soon drifted over to the others. Haruka, who had left quite the impression, stood poised before Miyu, who had her palm out. The blonde brought her fist back before smacking the outer side of it into the other's hand. The slap, plus the movement, caused the brunette to momentarily, and uncharacteristically flinch. Miyu on the other hand didn't bat an eyelash.

When Natsuki returned, she held a tear drop shaped black target. "Now turn to face the flags."

Prying her eyes away, Shizuru did as she was told.

"Alright, now kick the target when I count."

Honey strands of hair casually drifted about as she nodded.

"One."

Pulling her knee up to her stomach first, she kicked with her foot angled to the side, hitting the target with enough force to cause a sound. This seemed to brighten her mood.

"Two."

Repeating the action gave the same reaction. With a small smile, she finished ten on the left leg, and then on the right.

"Now you hold the target for me." Tossing it over, Shizuru caught it and held it in the same way the blunette had.

"Word of advice: hold it until your knuckles turn white. If not, it will slip between your fingers and the target will go flying." She had blushed a bit as she eyed the far wall. "You don't want to know what will happen if you don't hold on." Ending it there, she began her kicks.

They were swift, and had enough force to push her arm back, sometimes almost painfully. When she was finished, Shizuru had to give her wrist a small twirl and her shoulder a roll to knock out the knots.

"Switch partners!" Ryuken shouted as he was prying Mikoto off of her brother, who looked as though he were on the verge of passing out from the pummeling.

"Don't worry; he wouldn't pair you up with her just yet." Natsuki pointed to the pigtailed girl with her thumb. Even though her facial expression was one that looked as though she could care less, Shizuru saw the good there. They could make excellent friends.

Their conversation was soon interrupted, however, by the prodding of someone's finger on the brunette's shoulder. Turning, she met eyes much like her own.

"I will be your partner for punching."

"Ara, I appreciate it."

Even though she put on a smile, there was something… unsettling about this Miyu person.

"Place your left hand at angle with your hip while thrusting your right arm out. Keep it straight." Feeling as though she were reading a manual instead, she did so.

"That is an insufficient punch. Do it again."

After the third try, Miyu let her continue.

"Very well. Now punch my hand, do not worry, it will not hurt."

Lifting a lone brow, the brunette squeezed her fist tight and hammered it against the open palm. The android like girl did not spare her a blink.

"That was very good. Now again."

However awkward that was, they had completed the basics within ten minutes.

Now was when things were going to get tough.

"Final switch!"

"Now listen, white belt." A stern voice growled, gaining her attention. "We're just going to spar. Put on your gear and fright for your life, alright?"

"Ara… I believe you meant 'fight'." Due to her paying so much attention in class, she had taken up the habit of correcting one's mistakes.

Everyone stopped moving and Shizuru could have sworn she heard the Sensei groan.

"That's what I said!" In a moment's notice, Haruka had the newbie up against the wall, her left hand on the uniform's collar. Not liking this one bit, red eyes narrowed at her opponent.

"No, I'm afraid you did not."

Gritting her teeth, the blonde moved to strike, but was thwarted by a foot firmly placed against her ribs. Lavenders widened in surprise as she was pushed back a few feet. Once the obstacle was out of the way, she wrapped her arms around her stomach.

It had hurt.

Two years ago, she had stopped wearing protective gear for she was good enough to dodge attacks. And for once, someone hit her, and it actually hurt. Her spine ached from the contact as her lungs tried to suck in too much air.

"Ara! Kanin-na!"

What had happened?

Something had snapped within her, and she had suddenly attacked. She seemed blind for a split second.

"_I see the Princess likes to play it tough."_

_The smell of tobacco smoke was apparent as the crimson haired woman pressed her form against Shizuru, a smirk on her face while she held a handful of her hair in a painful coil._

"_That's fine by me, cause I don't play any other way."_

But now she was paying for it.

* * *

Authors Notes:

XD I don't even know where this chapter came from. I got back from practice and just wrote all of this, none of it was planned.

Note:

Exactly what happened to Haruka, happened to me earlier. I'll be sure to explain the pain later. –chuckles-


End file.
